“Keep her fed, keep her contained, and do not mistake your attachment for mine.”
Before Dax could answer, shadow folded around Rhen and removed him from the room.
Dax remained in the center of the training floor with his fists clenched, staring at the place where his brother had stood.
The split bag swayed slowly upon its chain, spilling sand across the mat.
Upstairs, Veya remained trapped inside a body Rhen had altered because he considered her useful. Rhen had reduced her to currency before she had even opened her eyes.
Dax had no intention of doing the same.
Chapter 25
The guest suite glowed with the deep warmth of the hearth.
Firelight moved across the carved wooden paneling and gathered within every shadow, giving the room the appearance of breathing around Veya. Dax had rebuilt the fire before leaving her, and the flames now burned high enough to cast a dark orange glow across the bed.
He stopped outside the door and knocked.
Veya did not answer immediately.
When her voice came, it was strained.
“Dax?”
“Yes.”
“Come in.”
He opened the door and found her twisted across the bed as though she had spent the time since his departure trying to escape her own skin.
One leg was bent beneath her while the other hung over the edge of the mattress. Her damp hair clung to her face and throat, and sweat caught the firelight across her pale skin. The loose sleep shirt had twisted around her hips, while small tremors continued moving through her abdomen and thighs.
Dax closed the door behind him.
She had not settled after all.
He crossed the room carefully, giving her enough warning to recognize him before he approached the bed.
“Veya.”
Her eyes opened slowly. Her pupils remained wide enough to darken most of the green, but she found him more quickly than she had in the library.
“I cannot make it stop.”
Her voice had become hoarse from fighting herself.
Dax sat on the edge of the mattress without touching her.
“Tell me what is happening.”
“Everything feels too close.” She pressed one hand against her stomach. “My skin hurts, my body will not settle, and every time I close my eyes, it gets worse.”
He watched another tremor move through her.
Rhen’s blood had ended the violent tether flare, but it had left her senses raw and overstimulated. Dax did not know whether this was part of the transition, an aftereffect of the blood, or a consequence unique to whatever Rhen had created.
He refused to pretend certainty merely because she needed an answer.
